Flames' Veteran Getting Lots Of Trade Interest, Shocking If He Stays

The Calgary Flames are going through some changes, and this season it started with Rasmus Andersson, a pending UFA, heading to the Vegas Golden Knights. The Flames have a number of young players they'd like to get in the NHL or see take control of the team with better opportunities quickly, but can't really do that with certain players hanging around.

Blake Coleman is one of the players I'm talking about and David Pagnotta said, "A lot of smoke. I would be surprised if he's not moved by the deadline."

Coleman, like everyone on the Flames, isn't having a good year offensively, but that doesn't take away from his two-way ability. He's the type of player that teams want to bring in for their third line in the playoffs. This is what the Tampa Bay Lightning did a number of years ago and it resulted in two Stanley Cups.

If Coleman were to be traded to a playoff contender, we could expect his offense to get at least a bit better. His goals are still solid and he would end at 24 goals over a full season. He's at 13 goals and 21 points on the season while sporting some good underlying analytics. His Corsi For % is 54% and his expected Goals For % is 53%, meanwhile he's made 110 hits, played over a minute on the power play per game, and over two minutes on the penalty kill per game.

Coleman has been playing 17 minutes per game, but that will go down on whichever team he ends up with due to more talent and a more specific role on a better team with better players. The 34-year-old has another year left on his deal after this season and has a 10-team list of teams he's willing to go to. That could expand given the circumstances, but that's still likely 10 playoff-bound teams that could also be looking to strike a deal for a player with a little bit of term. Coleman's $4.9 million AAV might have to be worked on with some retention, but the Flames should have no problem trading him if they want to this season.